Beck on China

Beck’s comments on China are entertaining and interesting but different than anything I’ve experienced in China or have read about. The new USSR/Russia has lot more reasons to be a threat in today’s world – I reviewed his last Friday's TV show tape again, since China’s an easy target.

As he stated China is well behind us in entrepreneurship and marketing – no doubt great technicians. These points are much, much more important than he makes them. It’s a cultural issue that been there since the beginning of time – where were they during all the major wars? They helped in Vietnam and Korea but always in a secondary role. Why did they build the Great Wall? Not like the Berlin Wall to keep their people in – it was to keep others out- isolation.

Historically, China has been a more isolationist country protecting its borders & spheres of interest.

UK connection through the years in Hong Kong made that city world class – they have many things similar to major US cities – you couldn’t tell difference from any major English speaking city – business, shopping, casinos, airport, stock market. Rest of China wants to copy it. I saw more non-China culture there than Chinese culture. Disneyland in Hong Kong and soon in Shanghai along with many golf courses being built – NBA basketball is unbelievably popular. OK name some things from China that have made an impact on the US?

I saw stores in mainland China in the 90's where their employees were assigned to aisles, even if no business. They are now depending on US (Wal-Mart’s, GM, KFC, McDonalds, etc.) to figure it (sales and marketing) out. Clearly money coming back to US based companies. Those US companies wouldn’t be growing if not for international, mainly China and India.

They are accepting our culture much more than we are accepting theirs even in mainland China – I saw cell phones, dress, even US country music, and mall stores that you would think you were in the US. He made a very inaccurate statement on that. Other than Chinatowns in US we have had very little cultural influence from them. Highly exaggerated comments and worries when he was talking about a happy meal toy. That was silly.

I did a marketing presentation in Beijing using common US marketing techniques – a Chinese did his with complex formulas. Long way from selling and marketing, otherwise they would already be doing it, and not depending on us to do it for them.

In the late fifties the USSR put Sputnik up and we were considered to be well behind them

We didn’t trade with Russia, so there was a much bigger threat at that time with Khrushchev and other Russian leaders in charge. They had missiles that could have done serious damage to all our major cities. Lot of bomb shelters built. They weren’t losing their best customer (like China today) if they bombed us.

Internet - The value of Sputnik 1 as Soviet propaganda was especially evident in the response of the American public. Sputnik crushed the American perception of the United States as the technological superpower by demonstrating that the Soviets were not the ignorant Easterners they had been perceived as prior to the launch.^[58] As a result, panic overtook the American public, which created an enormous sense of vulnerability regarding the United States' ability to defend its territory.^[59] Adding to this fear was the element of surprise with which Sputnik entered the world, which left the American public in what was observed as a “wave of near-hysteria”.^[59] The United States appeared at the mercy of a new technological power which shattered any notion of internal security or confidence for the American people and significantly elevated the perception of the Soviet Union in the international community.

Beck talks about China surpassing Japan and Germany – so why haven’t Japan and Germany, with their proven aggressive past in WW I and WW 2, been considered more of a threat by him. If their financial position is comparable to China.

They both are much better at selling and marketing then China.

He talks about WW 1 – UK and Europe owed us money. The reality was that if Germany defeated them all our banks would have lost lots of money Major reason our banks wanted us in.

Major thing about owing China today is the fact that we are buying things cheaper from them than we can make them. But it also implies that they can’t use it themselves (Chinese workers can’t afford to pay what we do) buy or sell it to anyone else and do nearly as well.

Let’s see, it would be smart business to destroy your best customer. They need US to maintain growth otherwise they will have a people’s revolution.

In any impending collapse I would sure rather we owe someone than they owe us. They have an inherent reason for keeping our economy healthy – every financial crisis over the past 30 years has been global, not isolated. Again the US consumer is still the market all the countries want. China mfg with $1-2 hourly wage is a long way off – still run like the old company stores associated with coal mining. Still it’s mainly the have’s and have not’s – slow developing middle class.

Always have to see how much is self-interest and how much is interest in the common good of the US and his listeners - disclosure -copy of his investment portfolio and income from books would be a nice first step